In the book The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, author Timothy Gallwey describes a one-on-one lesson he had once with an adult tennis student. The student was aware of a problem with his serve, as several other teachers had pointed it out to him, and he could describe it in great detail, and what he needed to do to fix it.

So Timothy decided to try a different approach.

He observed the man serve a few times, then, instead of trying to find a new, better way to explain the problem that the student already knew he had, he simply instructed him to practice his serve in front of a large window that functioned as a mirror. Almost instantly, the student recognized the problem in his own serve—he saw it with his own eyes for the first time—and made the necessary corrections to relax his arm.

The man thanked Timothy profusely and told him that he had taught him more than all the other teachers he had had in the past. But Timothy said, “What did I actually teach you?” The man was quiet for a few seconds as he thought and he said, “Well I guess I don’t really know! But you helped me so much. In 15 minutes, you made more of an impact than the hours of private lessons I’ve had.”

There’s a difference between facilitating and teaching; that's what we're going to talk about today.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (Timothy Gallwey)

“Piano Class for the Real World”: Exploring Experiential Learning with a Collaborative Inquiry Group in a Creative Musicianship Lab (Ashley Danyew)

“Bridging the gap: Informal learning practices as a pedagogy of integration” (Heloisa Feichas)

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This month in my teaching, I'm making a conscious effort to focus on the music.

I know that might sound obvious. You're a music teacher—what else would you focus on? But the truth is, as teachers, there's a lot we're thinking about:

Are we managing our time well? Will we complete everything on the lesson plan?

Are we keeping a good pace and keeping our students engaged?

Is there enough variety in the activities we're doing today: theory and sight-reading, aural skills and musical expression, on-the-bench and off-the-bench activities, rhythm and movement?

How are they doing with this activity? Do they understand the concept? Have they developed this skill? Do they need a challenge?

All of these things are important and necessary to our work. As teachers, we are responsible for organizing and sequencing learning activities, managing time, and assessing the outcomes. But this month, I want to prioritize the music we're making, the music my students are making.

In his book Deep Work, researcher Cal Newport wrote, “Clarity about what matters provides clarity about what does not.” That's what this episode is all about.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (Cal Newport)

Ep. 021 - “How to Praise With Intention”

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)

Fixed and Growth Mindsets (What I Learned from Carol Dweck’s Book)

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (Greg McKeown)

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The scene opens in an empty room with blank, white walls. A woman steps into the space, alone. "The blank space can be humbling," she writes. There's pressure to do something, to fill the emptiness, to create. But with practice and with the ritual of showing up, you grow accustomed to it. The author describes it as both her job and her calling.

"Bottom line," she writes, "Filling this empty space constitutes my identity.”

This is how the book, The Creative Habit begins. Author Twyla Tharp is a choreographer and dancer, offering insight into her creative practice and the rituals that accompany it.

I read this book last spring and it was one of my favorites of the whole year. I thought I'd share my three biggest takeaways and a few of my favorite quotes from the book with the hope that it's as inspiring and enlightening to you as it was for me.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Creative Habit (Twyla Tharp)

Join the Musician & Co. Book Club!

Big Magic (Elizabeth Gilbert)

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So often in our teaching and learning experiences, music theory is taught as a standalone subject.

We need to develop an understanding of theory and musical structure just like we need to develop an understanding of syntax and grammar in language. But I've been wondering lately if there's a better way to incorporate these learning experiences and theoretical conversations into our teaching. 

How can we as music educators make more connections between music theory and music practice, between the analysis and study of music and the actual creation of it? How can we make music theory more experiential?

That's what we're going to talk about today.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

“An Enactive Approach to Learning Music Theory? Obstacles and Openings.” (James Gutierrez)

Google Slides

Notability App

How to Use Notability for Written Assignment Sheets in Your Studio

Music Tree: Time to Begin (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 1 (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 2A (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 2B (Activities)

Music Tree: Part 3 (Activities)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If there's one thing we know it's that practicing is fundamental to developing skills as a musician. And as music teachers and educators, we're always looking for new ways to encourage and inspire our students to practice at home.

Interleaving is an approach to learning and practice that involves mixing up the sequence of topics, skills, or strategies so they are woven together throughout a practice or study session.

How does it work? What are the benefits? We'll talk about all of that in this episode.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources Mentioned

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ep. 037 - Do You Play Your Instrument for Fun?

How People Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)

Varied, Distributed, and Interleaved Practice (The Musician’s Way)

Why the Progress in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight (The Bulletproof Musician)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

When was the last time you sat down at your instrument and played music for fun? I mean, not music you had to practice or prepare, not the music you're teaching this week, but music you chose to play for yourself, for your own enjoyment?

So often as professionals, we don’t make time for this. We assume that the music we’re being paid to learn and practice and teach will also count as the musical satisfaction we need to keep going in our careers. It will satisfy that creative need we all have, the need to create and be challenged and experience something new.

Today, I'm sharing four reasons why playing your instrument for your enjoyment and creative expression is really vital to your music career.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Improvising and musical creativity is something I value in my studio and something I want to encourage and foster in all of my students. This was not my experience growing up; in fact, I didn't learn how to approach improvising from an educational standpoint until I was in grad school.

Today, I want to share a story from the early days of my studio when I was still a student myself. It's about a lesson I had one October with an 11-year-old student.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

Monster Dance (Jennifer Fink)

A Conversation with Edwin Gordon (Mary Ellen Pinzino, 1998)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

According to church musician and educator, Helen Kemp, 17% of children need help finding their singing voices. These are the children who often sing with a very limited range, default to chanting low in the voice instead of singing, and/or have trouble matching pitch. Have you encountered this in your teaching?

This does not indicate a lack of skill or potential, but simply a lack of experience and vocal development.

In this episode, I'm sharing six practical teaching strategies you can use with your students.

For show notes + a full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

The Importance of Music in Early Childhood (Lili Levinowitz, Music Together)

Free vocal exploration cards

Vocal exploration video demonstration

How to Develop Children’s Singing Voices in Choir

40 Call-and-Response Songs and Games

Ep. 012 - How to Develop Musicianship Skills in Those You Teach

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

Perhaps you've heard the age-old adage: we teach how we were taught.

Of course, we know this isn’t the full story: we all have unique backgrounds and a variety of experiences that inform the people we are today and the teachers we are becoming.

Observing our own teachers is certainly a part of that, but this alone doesn’t define what type of teacher we are or will become. But it is worth considering every now and again: 

How do these influences and past experiences affect our teaching mindsets, our approaches, and the way we think about learning? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

“Teaching the way they were taught? Revisiting the sources of teaching knowledge and the role of prior experience in shaping faculty teaching practices” (Amanda Oleson & Matthew T. Hora)

Experience & Education (John Dewey)

“Five Things You Only Learn When You Start Teaching” (Cambridge University Press Blog)

“What My Teachers Taught Me About Teaching” (David Cutler)

Perceptions and Influences Behind Teaching Practices: Do Teachers Teachers Teach as They Were Taught? (Stephanie E. Cox)

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens (Benedict Carey)

Better Learning Through Structured Teaching (Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey)

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III & Mark A. McDaniel)

“Review: Make It Stick” (Cult of Pedagogy)

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (Daniel H. Pink)

Ep. 003 - The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (Anders Ericsson & Robert Pool)

“To Learn, Students Need to DO Something” (Cult of Pedagogy)

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (Angela Duckworth)

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew

If you walk into an elementary classroom, you might notice that everything is color-coded: signs and charts on the wall to labels on bins to pieces of tape marking certain spots on the floor.

This is because colors are easy for most young children to recognize and differentiate between.

But in music, our baseline is black and white, the colors of standard notation.

For this reason, color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills. Elementary educator Amy Curletto wrote, “When we use color in a systematic way it can help students retain information better than just using black and white.” (source)

Today, I’m sharing four simple, unique strategies to use color to teach music literacy.

For show notes + full transcript, click here.

Resources mentioned:

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Why You Should Be Color-Coding Your Classroom (James Stanfield)

Boomwhackers

Colored handbells

Colored chime bands by ChimeWorks

Electrical tape for color-coding handchimes

Rainbow-colored hair ties for color-coding instruments

Color-coded chord cards

Color-coded fabric staff — available in two sizes: Junior (18"x14") and Large (28"x28")

Colored markers

Colored dot stickers for color-coding handchimes or creating your own colored music charts

Colored music notation stickers

Flat.io — create your own colored notation!

ChimeWorks Icon Chart

12x12” colored cardstock — great for illustrating musical form

Colored bean bags — a fun way to analyze musical form

Erasable pens — my students love these!

Highlighters are great for marking repeated patterns or phrases

The Psychology of Color: How Do Colors Influence Learning? (SHIFT eLearning)

Colored pencils are great for marking dynamics or adding your own

Washi tape

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Find me on Instagram: @ashleydanyew